Yadira Susseth and Her Family Pledge to Stay in Their Home, Defying Unjust Eviction Attempts by Collins (mis)Management
My family is Calling on Collins (mis)Management to Call Off Their Unjust Eviction and for Rochester to Swiftly Pass Good Cause Eviction Protections for All Tenants
Who I Am
Hello, my name is Yadira, and I am a mother to 8 kids (7 of whom live with me). I am a Rochester resident, and a dedicated worker at the Rochester City School District, where I support children with special needs. I am a proud indigenous Mayan woman. I was born in the beautiful country of Guatemala and lived my earliest years there.
My search for Housing Stability
Life in war-torn Guatemala was hard in the 1980s, and I was orphaned at an early age. I was adopted and brought to the United States when I was young. In the U.S. I had dreams of offering my children a stable life that I wasn’t able to have as a child in Guatemala. However, housing stability has been very hard for me to find in Rochester. Starting in 2019 my kids and I experienced homelessness after a difficult divorce. Moving to our current apartment at 114 Jefferson Ave., I hoped to leave the challenges of instability behind. But instead, our landlord Collins (mis)Management has kept us in constant fear of losing our home. In 2023, they tried to evict us without cause, but with help from my Union, the City Wide Tenant Union of Rochester, and the Legal Aid Society, we fought back and won. But now I’m facing an eviction again – for no reason at all.
My Current Eviction
My landlord filed another no-cause eviction on July 1, 2024, and I am terrified that my children will be homeless again. The stress is overwhelming. What if me and my 7 kids become homeless again? We're desperately searching for a new place, spending dollar after dollar on application fees and Lyft rides to view apartments. However, unregulated rents in Rochester are making it impossible to find an affordable home – landlords are charging more and more for poorly maintained apartments. Since I’ve been in my apartment the landlord has received over $40,000 rent even though he bought the 2 unit building for $15,000. Where has all the money gone? The building remains in the same poor condition as when I moved to Jefferson Ave.
This eviction isn't because I haven't paid rent or violated the lease – it's because Rochester hasn't adopted Good Cause Eviction Protections like the cities of Albany, Ithaca, Kingston, and Poughkeepsie have. In Rochester, landlords don’t have to show they have a good reason to evict a tenant – so they can get rid of a hardworking, rent-paying tenant for no reason at all. Good Cause Eviction Protections would require landlords to have a “Good Cause” to evict a tenant and to justify large rent hikes.
Why I’m Staying In My Home, Why I’m Taking a Stand
My kids and I have endured so much. I refuse to be pushed around any longer. I'm taking a stand for the basic human right to fair treatment and stable housing – a stand on moral principles. No family should have to go through what we’ve been through. If we move, it will be on our terms, not because of an unjust eviction. I need to know my kids have a safe place to sleep at night. These are my kids that are being messed with. My Union and community members are prepared to risk arrest if they try to take us out. We Shall Not Be Moved.
What I’m Asking For
If you believe my family deserves stable housing – and if you believe in housing as a human right – stand with me in demanding that:
Collins (mis)Management withdraw their no-cause eviction
Mayor Malik Evans and Rochester City Council to swiftly pass Good Cause Eviction Protections that protect as many tenants possible, just like Albany, Ithaca, Kingston, and Poughkeepsie did this summer